Friday, 27 February 2009

Donna Nook in Lincolnshire, is a great place to visit to obtain photographs of Grey Seals. Between December and January each year the seals haul themselves out to give birth to their young.

Obviously it's best to be prepared, with good stout footwear i.e. Wellington boots, and a set of Tide tables. When the tide is out it's then possible to do the long walk across the claggy sand and mud to the waters edge, an eye has to be kept on the tides, on this coast they move fast and are treacherous, the previously exposed sand is soon submerged.

During the week Donna Nook is a RAF bombing range, so access is only available at the weekends.

The rewards are worth the trek though, the seals are approachable, but I wouldn't get too close, they are, after all wild animals.The pups at this young age don't appear to have any fear of man, many a time after I plonked my tripod down, the pups would shuffle up and get so close I couldn't focus, I was constantly moving back.

When I was engrossed in photographing the seals, occasionally, I would hear a loud continuous thudding sound, on looking up I saw it was the large bull seals moving across the beach, these usually move in a straight line across any other seal, in fact within view I could see a dead flat pup. Life and death.

Photographic opportunities like this are now over until December this year, when I must go back.